D&D 5E Immersion For Players

[Dannyalcatraz]

I had some other videos to post, but there was some malfunction...all gone. The pieces in question were by Nadja, Glen Branca, and Sunn O))).

 

[Azurewraith]

I wouldn't advise playing something annoying in the background as well you may get punched in the jaw. As for making players RP in short as long as they are sentient you cant. You can encourage them by doing it your self with NPCs and provide some incentive to RP.

 

[abirdcall]

Funny voices can be fun and immersive for some, or the opposite for others.

Narrating the character's speech is just as much roleplaying as talking in a funny voice.

If you are going to have this be a thing then it is important to lay out the rules and norms in session 0. Let everyone know that they are expected to be actors as well as players.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Musica Cthulhiana

 

[iserith]

Also remember that roleplaying is just playing a role, determining how your character acts and thinks and what he or she says. It doesn't require you to speak in the character's voice from a first person perspective. That is acting, which is just a way to communicate roleplaying. Deciding to run behind the ruined building to avoid the green dragon's breath is just as much roleplaying as talking to an NPC in Phandalin.

 

[Rhenny]

For in character roleplaying, just talk to the PCs in-character as your NPCs and expect them to respond in-kind. Don't worry about the quality of their roleplaying, but do try giving significant NPCs one distinguishing feature such as a mannerism, accent, deep or high tone, slow or fast speech, etc.

Edit: I'd say don't put a lot of pressure on the players ("You MUST roleplay!") but do give
bonuses for well-done roleplay such as low DCs on character-interaction checks.

I agree with this. To add, as DM, when you speak as an npc, have the npc directly address one PC at a time if you want to encourage that player to try speaking as his/her character. Often, if an npc addresses the entire group, the players don't feel individually invited to respond. If they are shy, they wait for the dominant player to speak up.

 

[Hriston]

Also remember that roleplaying is just playing a role, determining how your character acts and thinks and what he or she says. It doesn't require you to speak in the character's voice from a first person perspective. That is acting, which is just a way to communicate roleplaying. Deciding to run behind the ruined building to avoid the green dragon's breath is just as much roleplaying as talking to an NPC in Phandalin.

Just to build on this, roleplay should more properly be understood as role assumption. You assume the role of your character, taking control of your character's decisions and resources. This is most certainly not the same as play acting with which roleplay is often confused. There's a great article by Gary Gygax in Dragon magazine (that I have yet to relocate) about this, which he wrote when he began seeing many players using theatrics at conventions in the mid-eighties.